Jim's Debt
by Johnmademe
Summary: The first meeting between Jim Moriarty and Sebastian Moran. It is based loosely on Web of Spiders teenlock! Jim.


Jim's Debt

It wasn't a story either of them liked to tell. They'd both been in a dark place, and just needed comfort. By some miracle they found each other, saved each other even. The scariest thing was what would have happened if they hadn't. If Sebastian hadn't taken up an offer in a dark tavern and found Jim. Neither could imagine, no neither wanted to imagine what would have happened without the other.

The story begins when Sebastian was kicked out of the military. He may have hatted the job, hated following so many damn rules, but it kept him fed and in a proper home. Now he squandered what little savings he'd had on cheap motel rooms and vodka. It was hard to get a job that was worth anything when one had a dishonorable discharge on their record. Despite his lack of money, Sebastian still had his pride and that meant he wouldn't be flipping burgers at the local dive. He still managed to scrape by with odd jobs here and there, some more legal than others.  
The only excuse he could ever give for why it all happened was that he was lonely. He hadn't touched a woman since he'd left the army and he had never been above paying for it. So when the offer was made in a dim basement of a tavern, he agreed with a second thought. There was only one requirement he asked of his hook –up. They had to be able to handle pain; he'd never been a gentle lover. What had shown up at his hotel was nothing more than a child, though Jim would later remind him often that he really was 18 and just looked young. He'd thought it was some joke until the boy had shoved him onto the bed and started working him over. The shock only lasted as long as it took Jim to get his shirt off, then Sebastian was shoving him away. He may have had a few kinks but he wasn't some pervert.  
Jim had tried again and again to get Sebastian to just comply. He'd seen too many times what happened to workers who didn't bring back the proper cash. He'd looked so small and scared that Sebastian had taken pity on him. That night Jim incurred his first debt to Sebastian. The man, unable to take advantage of the tiny starving thing, shoved Jim onto the bed and threw a blanket over him. He waved a wad of cash in front of the confused boy and smirked.  
"It's enough for five hours of your time. Get some proper sleep then get out. I'm going to get a drink." So he just left Jim to the best night's sleep he'd had in months and went in search of a way to refill the cash he'd wasted. He wasn't at all surprised to come home the next day to an empty fridge. The missing key however was a little surprising. Did the brat intend to return? To his annoyance, or so he claimed, Jim really did return. Night after night, after a job he'd come and crash on Sebastian's bed. He didn't trust the man of course, but they both seemed to tolerate each other. Sebastian never turned him away. He just complained about having a second mouth to feed.

Months passed like this. Each slowly getting to know the other and each took comfort in the company of the other. For the first time in a long time Jim felt safe. He often found himself just watching Sebastian in amazement. There was something beautiful about him that Jim couldn't place his finger on. He chalked it up to the fact that he'd never had to sleep with Sebastian or that he felt respected despite his life choices. Sebastian himself had grown fond of his little boss, coined for the fact that Jim was the bossiest twat he'd ever met and the fact that he never learned his real name. He acted as if the boy was nothing more than a nuisance but he couldn't sleep until Jim made it home safe. It was odd at first, calling the place home, but soon they both got used to it and their awkward little family.

Sebastian could still tell you the first time he saw Jim cry, not that he would. They'd been together for nearly a year when Jim found the brightly wrapped package sitting on his side of the bed. Sebastian had muttered a gruff Merry Christmas as he opened it with shaking fingers. The heft volume of Grimm's fairy tales didn't feel real in his hands. At eighteen it was his first Christmas present and it seemed too good to be true. When he was finally able to see Sebastian and that proud little grin through his mist eyes he'd lost it. How had he gotten so luck as to find someone who'd take him in like this? That was when he incurred his second debt. It was this feeling of acceptance and something else that Jim wouldn't understand for years. That love from his favorite fairy tales was right in front of him and it would take him longer than he liked to admit to realize it.  
The third and final debt nearly destroyed Jim. Sebastian was heading home from yet another odd job when he found Jim. It was something that the younger man had always feared and he would have screamed when Sebastian walked into that particular ally way if his mouth hadn't been otherwise occupied. He just shut his eyes tight and hopped that the man didn't recognize him while he was being violated. There had always been a small hope that Sebastian would seem him like this, as just a whore. What happened next he could have never predicted. The sound of the gun shot had him scrambling back as his client fell to the ground. People scurried out of the ally all around him and Sebastian just stood there with an eerie calm.

"You okay Jim?" Sebastian tried to put a lid on the fury that was still pumping through his veins. He'd known what Jim's job was but actually seeing someone abusing the boy he'd grown to care for had thrown him into a rage. Jim gave him a quick nod and hurried to his feet. He watched Sebastian with a sense of wonder that the older mistook for fear or shock. "Get out of here Boss. I'll get this cleaned up and meet you at home." They both knew he was lying but Jim left any way the second he heard the sirens. It was something that he would hate himself for, for years later. Sebastian didn't even try to run. He just stood over the body and emptied the clip in him.  
One self-defense verdict and jail stint for illegal possession of a fire arm later, Sebastian found Jim again. Of course he didn't recognize the well-dressed man in front of him. When he asked what the man wanted from him Jim simply smirked and shoved him into the car. "Oh, just repaying a debt or two. Now, let's talk business." Sebastian never found out what happened to his Little Boss, but he didn't dare mention the kid to such a jealous Jim.


End file.
